The fashion for large round buttocks began a long time ago. Looking at Kim Kardashian or Nicki Minaj, some women can only envy their inflated butt. After all, voluminous, pumped up buttocks are the dream of any lady. Don't forget: nothing is impossible! We will describe in detail which exercises are suitable for pumping up the gluteal muscles and how to pump them up at home.
Before training, be sure to do a warm-up: it will help make your muscles more flexible and your workout more effective.
The structure of the muscles of the buttocks
Let's get acquainted with the anatomy of the buttocks. So, here is their structure:
- the most important is the large muscle. It is they that occupy most of the buttocks and show the greatest activity during body extension;
- Below this muscle is the middle one. She gets especially tense when running, walking, or climbing stairs;
- The small muscle is located above the large muscle. It works together with the middle one.
To better work the gluteal muscles, squats should be performed as deeply as possible. To avoid damaging your knee joints, do not make sudden movements.
What muscles work when performing the exercise?
Let's look at what muscles are pumped by squatting with dumbbells in your hands. First of all, the exercise effectively works the muscles of the buttocks (gluteus maximus), hamstrings and quadriceps, adductor muscles of the thigh, and calf muscles.
Additionally, squats with weights provide a good load on the muscles of the upper shoulder girdle. Stabilizing muscles also work – the muscles of the abs, back and arms.
What squats help increase butt volume at home?
If you are going to pump up your butt at home, then squats are an excellent, and most importantly, effective exercise. But do not neglect additional sports equipment, for example, fitball. It acts on all groups of gluteal muscles, making them elastic and toned. Let's find out which types of squats are most effective in pumping up the buttocks.
Classic with own weight
There is an opinion that bodyweight squats are ineffective. But this is not true! Unweighted squats are no less effective than other squats. And doing this exercise for the gluteus maximus muscle is not difficult. Initial position: standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, maybe a little wider. With your arms extended in front of you or behind your head, squat down so that your knees form a 90-degree angle. Then stand up. Literally 100 bodyweight squats will replace any gym!
The angle of the back should be approximately the same as that of the shins. Distribute your weight evenly between your heels and toes.
Deep
Deep squats are especially good for pumping the gluteal muscles. Making them is more difficult (only those who have flexible ankles will succeed). The action pattern is similar to classic squats. You just need to lower your pelvis lower so that your knees form an acute angle. A deep squat can be done both in the gym (using a barbell) and at home (with your arms stretched out in front of you).
Despite the tension in your legs, try to avoid jerking while lifting.
With a narrow stance
This exercise has a great effect on the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles. To perform these butt exercises, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. With your arms straight in front of you, lower your pelvis down until your knees form a 90-degree angle.
Do not push your knees forward further than the edges of your thumbs.
Sumo
Enlargement of the buttocks is simply impossible without this exercise. Technique: Stand with your feet wide apart, turning your feet 45 degrees. Slowly lower yourself until your knees form a 100-degree angle. At the same time, you need to keep your back straight. There is no need to do sumos every day as they will increase the shape of your inner thighs.
Keep your heels off the floor while squatting, trying to maintain your balance.
Curtsy
This is one of the most effective exercises! It stretches the buttocks very well (especially the large and middle muscles). Correct squat technique: To begin, stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, and hands in front of you. Take one leg back, but so that the foot is behind the supporting leg. Without pausing, return your leg to the starting position and repeat the same with the other leg.
Do not hunch, your back should be completely straight, and your shoulders and chest should be straightened.
With a kettlebell or dumbbells
Training your buttocks this way is very effective. And the technique is very similar to sumo squats. But you have no idea how many calories are burned by squatting 50 times with dumbbells or a kettlebell!
If you train daily in 2-3 sets of 10-15 times, your buttocks will be like nuts in a month
Plie
One of the best exercises for a Brazilian butt is plie squats. To do this, place your feet further than shoulder-width apart. Turn your toes and knees more than 45 degrees. You can hold your hands in front of you or behind your head. So, slowly squat until your pelvis is parallel to the floor. This exercise involves the lateral muscles of the buttocks and the gluteus minimus along with the gluteus maximus.
Smoothly lower yourself as deeply as possible, feeling the tension in your inner thigh.
Deep on one leg or pistol
Pistol squats are one of the most difficult, but very effective squats in fitness. It trains the large and middle muscles of the buttocks well, makes them elastic, and is as effective as training with an expander. But, as mentioned above, this is not an easy exercise. So at the beginner level, try doing wall squats. So, pistol squats are done this way: place your hands in front of you, stretch one leg forward. In this position, squat, while keeping your extended leg straight, without bending (at first you can help yourself a little: hold on to the wall with one hand). These butt squats are a good option for enlarging your butt. Literally thirty squats a day will help build beautiful buttocks.
The impact of this type of squat on the muscles of the lower body is comparable to squats with a barbell of your own weight.
With a barbell
Enlargement of the buttocks is impossible without weighted squats. For these purposes, you definitely need a barbell. The technique is the same as classic squats, only using a barbell. When thinking about how to remove the crease above your butt and how to pump up the gluteus medius muscle, be sure to add these squats to your set of exercises.
When performing this exercise, it is most important to follow technique rather than trying to do as many squats as possible at maximum speed.
Smith machine
The Smith simulator is certainly good, but not for constant use. Basically, it is used at the beginning of training to learn how to squat correctly with a barbell and get used to breathing correctly when squatting, as well as to get used to such loads.
Types of squats with dumbbells for the buttocks
The variability of squats with dumbbells is great:
- squats with two dumbbells on the sides of the legs;
- plie squats with one dumbbell (wide stance, feet turned out to the sides as much as possible);
- sumo squats with one dumbbell between the legs (wide stance, the dumbbell should be held with outstretched arms between the legs).
- squats with two dumbbells on the shoulders (the shells are held in the palms and as close to the shoulders as possible, the elbows are put forward and form a parallel with the floor);
- front squats (dumbbell held at chest level);
- pistol squats on one leg (the dumbbell is held on the side of the non-supporting leg or in front of you with outstretched arms).
Squats with dumbbells in hands differ from squats with a barbell in that the load on the knee joints and spine is less (almost twice as much). However, dumbbells add additional stress to the trapezius, which is not very beneficial for a woman's figure. This type of squat is less effective than barbell exercises, but has several advantages:
- quicker to learn for beginners;
- resolved for back problems;
- suitable for training at home, since it is easier to hold dumbbells at home than a barbell.
Step squats with a dumbbell do not allow you to sit much lower. The same position of the legs and depth are in regular squats with a barbell behind the head. From the point of view of biomechanics and physiology of muscle tension, there is no significant difference between these exercises.
When exercising with heavy dumbbells, you can use wrist straps. However, it will be difficult to perform many repetitions with serious weights - your arms will quickly get tired. It is much easier to lift maximum weight with a barbell.
Top 9 exercises for losing weight buttocks
Before you start lifting, you need to know how to reduce the amount of fat on your buttocks. So let’s figure out what exercises you need to do to reduce butt fat.
Lunges forward
This exercise is perfect for reducing butt size and increasing its elasticity. Technique: stand straight (hands on your waist, feet shoulder-width apart). Next, take a step forward and sit down. After this, return to the starting position (and so on for each leg).
Do not hold your breath while doing the exercise. Muscle tension should be as you exhale, and relaxation as you inhale.
Deadlift with dumbbells
This exercise has a very good effect on the lower body: thanks to it, the fold above the butt is removed and the gluteal muscles increase. It can replace 200 bodyweight squats! So, to perform it, stand straight, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Take a barbell (just make sure your back is straight and your stomach is tense). Then, bend your knees and lower your pelvis. Do a kind of squat. After this, you can straighten your knees and return to their original position.
Most injuries, such as sprains, occur during sudden movements.
Gluteal bridge
The glute bridge is an ideal exercise for enlarging your butt. They can pump up the lateral, large muscles of the buttocks. This exercise must be performed lying down. Lie on your back with your knees bent at right angles. Place your hands next to your body. So, as you inhale, lift your pelvis up. When doing this, make sure that your shoulders and upper back are on the floor. Hold in this position (with your pelvis raised) for 1-2 seconds. As you exhale, lower yourself.
Don’t chase results, don’t immediately rush into battle, increase the load gradually, day after day.
Swing your legs
Another effective exercise to tone your gluteal muscles. If you do it every day, the skin and muscles of the buttocks will tighten within two weeks. So, the execution technique: get on all fours and lift your bent leg up in pairs (as high as possible). When swinging your legs, try to keep your back straight.
To lose weight, you should repeat the exercise many times, using a small additional weight.
Hyperextension
The benefits of squats are, of course, obvious. But an exercise such as hyperextension also helps to pump up your butt and increase the volume of your gluteal muscles. It's not very difficult to do. First of all, adjust the exercise machine or fitball to your own height. Then lie down on the machine (or ball so that your back is straight) and lower yourself down until the angle is 60-70 degrees. At the same time, strain not your back, but your buttock muscles.
Often success depends not on how many approaches you do, but on whether you perform the exercises correctly.
Walking on your buttocks
Thanks to this exercise, you can not only get rid of cellulite and reduce the amount of fat, but also pump up your butt. Sit on the floor with your legs extended. You can hold your hands in front of you, or you can put them behind your head. Start “walking” with the help of your buttocks, as if you were moving on your feet. At first, you don’t need to put too much strain on yourself. But later you can and even need to increase the load.
The exercise tightens the hips and removes the “breeches” that many women constantly struggle with.
Static exercise chair
This exercise is a bit like squats. To perform it, stand against a wall, pressing your back and head. Take a small step forward. Next, start squatting until your pelvis is parallel to the floor. After this, rise, but slowly (only then will the exercise have an effect). After taking a break of 10-15 seconds, do a squat again. At first, don’t think about how many times you need to squat (do as many as you can). Then increase the number of repetitions.
If after training your muscles hurt, you can do a light massage, take a bath with sea salt and rub well with a terry towel.
Exercise bike
It will also increase the size of your buttocks. To do this, lie down on the floor. Hands should be behind your head. Raise your body (without straining your neck) and at the same time bend your leg, lifting it towards your body. Proceed this way: lift your left leg, bend to the right and vice versa.
If you are short on time, do two or three exercises in several approaches; you don’t need to do the whole complex in a hurry or skip the lesson altogether.
Basic technique for glute squats with dumbbells
- The stance of the legs can be narrow or wide. In a narrow position of the legs, in addition to the buttocks and back extensors, the front surface of the thigh (quadriceps) is significantly trained, which is not very good for women. In a wide stance, the same muscles are involved, only the load is transferred from the quadriceps to the back of the thigh (biceps). In a very wide position - “plie” - the load is greatly shifted to the inner surface of the thighs (adductor muscle), which is also not the best option for girls.
- The toes are turned 45 degrees and point in the same direction as the knees.
- A correct squat is performed by moving the hip joint back.
- The knees should not be brought together, spread apart or pulled out over the toes.
- The emphasis is on the heels and the outer surface of the foot. If you put the load on your toes, you will fall forward, and this will lead to injury.
- As you lower, inhale, and at the end of the effort, exhale.
- The deeper the squat, the more the gluteal muscle will be involved in the work (dumbbells should not touch the floor).
- The upward movement of the body occurs with the force of the buttocks.
- There is no rest phase at the top point, and the knees remain slightly bent to maintain the load in the gluteal muscles.
- The back is always naturally arched. Under no circumstances should you hunch over. It’s easy to keep it straight if you look in front of you at the top far corner while doing the exercise.
- You cannot lean forward too much, otherwise the squat will turn into a deadlift.
- The back cannot be rounded in the lower phase. Pelvic drop can occur due to weak spinal erectors, dumbbells that are too heavy, or a lack of natural body tilt.
How to remove fat from the butt - 7 more effective methods?
A squat program is essential when it comes to pumping up your butt. But don’t forget about the excess fat on your butt that needs to be removed. When burning fat on your buttocks, pay attention to these 7 ways.
Diets and fasting days
We already know what squats do and what will happen if you squat regularly. But exercise alone won't help. Pay special attention to diets or fasting days. Going on a diet does not mean starving yourself. This means that you need to limit yourself to fried, smoked, flour and sweet foods. Now the second thing is fasting days. On such days you do not need to eat anything (you can only drink plain water). You need to do no more than 3 fasting days a week.
The effectiveness of losing weight depends 30% on physical activity, and 70% on diet.
Bath procedures
This is another method that works great to help you get rid of fat on your buttocks and sides. It is enough to go to the bathhouse 1-2 times every week.
Swimming
A set of squats is aimed at increasing the volume of the gluteal muscles, and swimming is aimed at eliminating excess fat from the butt. Therefore, this sport should not be neglected. On the contrary, allocate 2-3 per week for pool classes.
Walking or running
Nothing tones your glutes and anterior thigh muscles like running. There is no need to run every day - this will have a negative effect on the circulatory system. It is enough to run every other day for 15-20 minutes and you will be guaranteed beautiful thighs, calves and buttocks!
Running also strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, which helps prevent heart and lung diseases.
Massage
You can get rid of excess fat with the help of massage, which you can do yourself. To do this, you need to purchase a special brush and massage for 10 minutes a day. It is advisable to massage regularly. Then there will be a much greater effect.
Wraps
The most effective wraps for fat on the buttocks are made using coffee, vinegar, honey, and clay.
Baths
They will help not only get rid of fat, but also relax after grueling workouts. Baths can be done with various essential oils - it won’t get any worse.
Reasons for the absence or presence of muscle pain after exercise
After sports activities, you may feel muscle pain. But if the training was carried out correctly, then the pain should not be severe. Severe pain after training is bad. This means the load was very heavy. It's worth lowering it a little. The absence of pain does not mean anything good either. This means that the load for you is small and there will be no effect from the training. To do this, gradually increase the load, but do not overdo it - this can lead to severe pain (at best), and at worst, rupture of the ligaments.